The ACTUAL NEWS: Thursday, February 27th 2025 Recap
"Today in History" and the Latest National and Global News
TODAY IN HISTORY
1776: At the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, North Carolinian revolutionaries defeated loyalists during the American Revolution.
1884: Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic, signed a treaty in London that disavowed British authority over the Transvaal.
1933: In Berlin, the Reichstag (parliament) building caught fire, a key event in the establishment of Nazi dictatorship.
1951: The Twenty-second Amendment, which effectively limited to two the number of terms a U.S. president may serve, was ratified.
1967: Saint Kitts and Nevis (with Anguilla) became an independent state associated with the United Kingdom.
1968: During a news broadcast, American journalist Walter Cronkite, who was considered “the most trusted man in America,” broke from his usual objectivity to predict that the Vietnam War could end only in a protracted stalemate; his commentary was credited with changing the U.S. public's opinion of the conflict.
1973: Two hundred members of the American Indian Movement forcefully took the reservation hamlet of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
1991: U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered a cease-fire effective at midnight and declared victory in the Persian Gulf War, a conflict triggered by Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait in August 1990.
2010: A magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile, causing widespread damage and triggering a tsunami that devastated coastal areas; it was the most powerful earthquake to strike the region since 1960.
QUICK ACTUAL NEWS
NATIONAL
Five former U.S. defense secretaries on Thursday condemned President Donald Trump's "reckless" firing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior officers, calling on Congress to halt any confirmation of their successors.
Elon Musk expressed support for a bill that would consolidate antitrust enforcement at the U.S. Department of Justice, stripping that authority from the Federal Trade Commission.
U.S. Postal Service employees should disregard rumors and reports suggesting President Donald Trump could unilaterally seize control of the agency, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a video seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed eight major technology companies, including Alphabet, Meta, Apple, and X Corp., seeking details about their communications with other countries amid fears of foreign censorship, the committee said on Thursday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed on Thursday that it had canceled a meeting of its independent advisory panel to discuss the composition of this year's flu vaccine, with the regulator stating it would make recommendations later.
Recent surveys showing a rise in consumer inflation expectations suggest that the U.S. central bank needs to remain focused on ensuring price pressures are fully contained, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeff Schmid said on Thursday, highlighting a growing and potentially troubling issue for policymakers.
The U.S. government's human resources agency has informed at least two dozen employees they have just nine days to decide whether to relocate to Washington, a move that labor unions and governance experts view as yet another attempt by the Trump administration to force federal workers to quit.
Trump administration officials will be required to face questioning under oath regarding the workings of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in a lawsuit by government employee unions, who seek to block the secretive cost-cutting department from accessing federal agency systems, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
Equipment from Musk’s Starlink has been installed in Federal Aviation Administration facilities as a prelude to a takeover of a $2 billion contract held by Verizon, according to government employees, contractors, and people familiar with the work.
Two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday questioned President Donald Trump's Air Force secretary nominee on whether he unfairly favored Elon Musk in a classified, multibillion-dollar spy satellite contract.
A U.S. judge on Thursday refused to halt the firings of 21 CIA officers who were assigned to diversity, equality, inclusion, and accessibility programs that President Donald Trump ordered eliminated, according to their attorney.
A California federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ordering the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies to carry out mass firings of thousands of recently hired employees.
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday dropped five enforcement actions against financial services companies accused of wrongdoing under the previous administration, including a major case against Capital One.
X has provided prominent online conservatives with a direct line to Musk’s team, and they appear to be influencing policy.
The U.S. is in talks with several countries that could export more eggs to help reduce prices.
The Supreme Court seems poised to rule in favor of a woman who argues she lost out on a promotion because she is straight. The ruling is likely to be narrower than many conservatives had hoped, according to Adam Liptak.
Republicans are pushing to overturn a California rule meant to encourage electric car production, while state lawmakers argue that the Republican plan is illegal.
A former chemical industry lobbyist, who once fought regulations on formaldehyde, now leads an EPA office that approves new chemicals.
The energy giant BP announced it would increase spending on oil and gas while reducing its investment in clean energy.
President Trump stated that “every single one” of the military generals involved in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan should be fired, as he sat next to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a Cabinet meeting on Feb. 26.
The Pentagon has reduced waste, abuse, and mismanagement in most “high-risk” areas over the past two years, but it is losing ground in weapons acquisition, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office.
The Space Force should “embrace its exceptionalism” and push Congress and the Trump administration to allow the service to explore new ways of doing business—ranging from how it acquires equipment to how it trains Guardians and defines its missions, according to a new policy paper from the American Enterprise Institute.
Military planners have centuries of battlefield history to draw from when wargaming conflicts on land, at sea, and in the air. However, in space—where no war has ever been fought—there is no historical precedent to guide strategy, no past battles to analyze, and no proven playbook for how a conflict might unfold. This presents a unique challenge for the U.S. Space Force as it works to build a wargaming and experimentation infrastructure for a domain where the rules of warfare remain largely untested.
Hundreds of tech-focused officials from across the Pentagon, U.S. military, startups, and large corporations gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday evening with dozens of lawmakers from all sides of the political aisle to officially celebrate the recent launch of the new Senate Defense Modernization Caucus—and build excitement around members’ near-term plans, sources said this week.
A critical minerals deal negotiated by Donald Trump with Ukraine could ease tensions between Kyiv and the U.S. president, while also winning back support from his Republican allies in Congress for a new round of aid to the war-torn country.
Democratic leaders are hoping that U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst and a winner of tough elections, will help rehabilitate their public image when she gives their rebuttal to President Donald Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday night.
FBI Director Kash Patel is considering bringing in trainers from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to improve agents' martial arts and self-defense skills, according to four people familiar with the plan laid out on a call this week with FBI field offices.
A Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday that the Republican-led agency is seeking to pressure major U.S. broadcasters by reinstating a series of complaints. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said a Paramount-owned CBS "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris did not violate commission rules and that other complaints against Walt Disney's ABC and Comcast's NBC were improperly reinstated.
The United States has not moved to quit the Americas branch of the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), despite its wider pullback from global health. President Donald Trump began the 12-month withdrawal process for the U.S. from the WHO on his first day in office in January and has since overseen a dismantling of U.S. foreign aid that has hit health programs worldwide.
U.S. President Donald Trump's cancellation of licenses for foreign oil companies to operate in sanctioned Venezuela will reduce the dollars available in the country's exchange market, leading to depreciation of the local bolivar currency and rising prices, analysts said on Thursday.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) workers were briefly allowed to reenter the headquarters in Washington on Thursday to collect their personal belongings and clear out their desks, a day after President Donald Trump's administration announced it was cutting more than 90% of the agency's aid contracts.
President Donald Trump's pick to chair his Council of Economic Advisors, Stephen Miran, said on Thursday that he believes deregulation could be an effective way to reduce inflation. "I agree that removing barriers to the ability of firms to produce will get them to produce more; more stuff, lower prices," Miran said during questioning at a Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing, where he also voiced support for tax cuts, tariffs, and other policies central to Trump's economic agenda.
The White House on Thursday walked back President Donald Trump's claim from the previous day that the Environmental Protection Agency plans to cut 65% of its workforce, clarifying that the environmental regulator plans to cut its spending by 65%.
GLOBAL
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin during a brief stop in Ireland on Thursday, en route to a crucial meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.
The United States and Britain are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump told a joint news conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, suggesting the deal could help avert U.S. tariffs.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was inclined to support a deal between Britain and Mauritius regarding the future of a U.S.-UK military base in the Chagos Islands, providing a boost for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that there were "pretty good talks going on" regarding Gaza when asked about the future of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants, though he offered few details during a White House press conference.
Trump tried to cancel Zelenskyy's visit to the U.S., but Macron convinced him otherwise, according to BFMTV. Reports suggest that Zelenskyy received a message from the U.S. asking him not to come, prompting him to reach out to Macron, who persuaded Trump to accept Zelenskyy, promising to take responsibility.
A framework agreement outlining U.S. access to Ukraine’s natural resources in exchange for security guarantees has legal gaps that must be addressed in future negotiations, four experts told Reuters a day before the countries' leaders meet in Washington.
Thanks to pressure from the Trump administration, the Tate brothers were allowed to leave Romania this morning. Their destination of choice was Florida, USA.
The White House is holding negotiations with Russia on Arctic cooperation, according to Bloomberg, citing sources. This is part of U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to "ease tensions with Moscow". Discussions are currently focused on exploring natural resources and establishing trade routes.
Thousands of Israelis lined the streets to mourn Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.
Hamas turned over the remains of four Israeli hostages.
Israel released dozens more Palestinian prisoners and is expected to release hundreds more once it identifies the bodies handed over. The first phase of the ceasefire is set to expire this weekend.
Three Austrian political parties reached a deal to form a government without the far-right.
Women in South Korea, which has the world’s lowest fertility rate, gave birth to more children last year than in 2023, marking the first rise since 2015.
A military plane crashed into a city block in Sudan, killing at least 46 people.
Iran has sharply increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in recent weeks, according to a confidential United Nations report, as Tehran amasses a critical raw material for atomic weapons. The increase in Iran’s holdings of uranium enriched to 60 percent, nearly weapons-grade, gives it enough to produce six nuclear weapons.
CARTOONS OF THE DAY
POSTS OF THE DAY
VIDEO QUICK NEWS
Former Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre commented on the post-debate fall-out: It was a firing squad…I had never seen anything like that before…that was shocking, shocking…It was truly, truly unfortunate. And I think it hurt us more than folks realized.
Lavrov confirms the “rest of Ukraine should also be liberated”
NOTE: The translation has an error - it should say "Racist laws NOT "Russian laws" at 00:25 mark
Tuberville: We have to start in the Pentagon. We need to make a triagon, three sides instead of five sides in the Pentagon
Russia and U.S. ready to set up co-operation.
Vladimir Putin has been speaking at the security service FSB board meeting and said: "I understand that not everyone is happy with the resumption of U.S.-Russian relations. Some of the elites will try to disrupt the dialogue. It is important for us to take this into account and prevent such attempts".
Did Prime Minister Starmer persuade DJT not to put tariffs on the U.K.?
Starmer interrupts Trump and sets him straight that the U.K. gifted its aid, weapons and support to Ukraine
Baier: What do you or does the King think about Trump calls for Canada to join America as the 51st state?
Starmer: As for what his majesty may think of world events, that’s not for me to say. His majesty will obviously express himself in his own way
Trump in Taiwan and Chinese investments in US: I have great relationship with President Xi
DeSantis: Florida does not welcome Andrew & Tristan Tate after they arrived from Romania
The pro-Russian Romanian “presidential candidate” Georgescu, who was detained by the police yesterday and displayed... this
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed that less than 1% of the fentanyl that arrives in the United States comes from Canada and threatened an "immediate and extremely strong response" if the United States proceeds with tariffs next week.
When asked about President Trump's trade rhetoric, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne says that American businesses are contemplating moving operations to Canada.
ICYMI
From Google to Target, many major U.S. companies have either dropped or are considering altering their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies following President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at curbing such programs at both the federal and private levels.
The Washington Post’s opinion editor resigned after Jeff Bezos, the paper's owner, directed the section to advocate for "personal liberties and free markets," while refraining from publishing opposing viewpoints.
Amazon announced that its virtual assistant Alexa would now be powered by generative A.I. Despite not being a streaming service, it's branded as Alexa+.
Michelle Trachtenberg, an actress best known for her roles in Harriet the Spy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Gossip Girl, has died at age 39.
Gene Hackman, Hollywood's consummate Everyman and star of some of the most iconic films of the 1970s and ’80s, has passed away at age 95. He was found dead in his New Mexico home alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, and their dog.
An unvaccinated child in West Texas has died from measles, as the disease spreads in the area, as well as in New Mexico.
INTERESTING READ
Josh Stueve, a senior communications official at the Department of Justice (DOJ), has resigned after 15 years of service under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
In his resignation statement, he expressed, "I cannot continue to serve in such a hostile and toxic work environment, where leadership at the highest levels has made it clear that we are neither welcomed nor valued."
TODAY'S QUOTE
Q: Less than 1% of all fentanyl that comes into the U.S. Is apprehended at the Canadian border. So why use fentanyl as a reason? Trump: They should be apprehending much more. They're only apprehending 1%.
TODAY'S COVER PHOTO
Washington, US
President Trump throws a hat to reporters printed with the slogan ‘Trump was right about everything!’ after signing executive orders in the Oval office
That's all from me for now. Thank you for reading.
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